Electric power outlets are commonly provided on a wall of a building structure. A switch may be attached to the power outlet permitting a user to complete a circuit through the power outlet to switch on a light, or other appliance. Alternatively, the power outlet may provide a connection socket to permit a user to insert the terminals of a power driven appliance such as a heater, cooler, kitchen appliance, or the like. Typically, such power outlets are covered by a coverplate, protecting the power supply on the wall from accidental human contact, and thus providing a safety feature.
In recent years, it has become a common feature of a coverplate to provide a function in addition to its safety feature. The coverplate may be provided with two terminals that extend rearwardly from the coverplate, configured to make contact with the two electrically live power terminals on the power outlet, thereby drawing a small amount of current to power small low power devices that are attached to the rear side of the coverplate. It is known that most power outlets have a standard dimension, so that the distance of separation of power terminals on a standard power outlet are known, and this distance of separation is also given to the rearwardly extending terminals on the coverplate so that the rearwardly extending terminals may conveniently contact the power terminals on the outlet. Such low power devices may include features such as LEDs to provide floor lighting, or LEDs to provide an indication whether the power through the outlet is on or off. These LEDs may further be controlled by switches such as motion detector switches, or photosensor switches.
However, a problem in the prior art arises during the manufacture and assembly of such coverplates, and this problem during assembly may extend to the safety of the resulting coverplate once it is manufactured and assembled. During assembly, the complexity of assembling a fairly complex electric circuit onto the back of a coverplate is made difficult by the fact that numerous components and elements must be connected to the coverplate, thus giving rise to the potential for assembly error. As a result, the eventual product may present the consumer public with a product that is not sufficiently safe for installation onto power outlets that are powered by live electricity. The present invention addresses these and other needs.